The APEX Program
by CollegeWiFi
Summary: The Avatar program wasn't practical for SecOps use, so RDA divised a new program that doesn't need a Driver or Avatar, and they don't even need to look very human or Na'vi. They're soldiers, not diplomats. The result is Project APEX RDA's super soldier program. Alien biology, 6 limbs, minor telepathy, OFC replaces Jake, summary inside. Palulukan/Thanator Makto. F/F, maybe F/F/F


**A/N** I'm doing something weird and this story is effectively an AU origin of my own OC. I know, kinda pretentious right? Anyway, if you like this, check out my other story. Depending on when you see this my other story is probably more developed. Don't worry about that many spoilers if you read the other story, this one is pretty divergent. If you read comics think of this as an alternate timeline or something, where a character might exist in two universes but with radically different backstories.

P.S. I have a habit of "citing" (to help explain an idea) and often times that involves a link to another website and doesn't like that, so if you want to experience that, check out my upload of this on Ao3.

 **IMPORTANT**

Some chapters might have graphic depictions of hunting and the less savory details that are involved like field dressing, skinning, and quartering. 

Some aspects of the Avatar universe have been changed for story purposes. There are five major ones. 1. The Na'vi have minor short range telepathy so the Tsaheylu isn't 100% necessary after the first bonding. 2. Human's have the purview and technology to genetically modify human beings through plot pseudoscience. 3. Pandoran biology uses DNA, as an excuse for me to be xenobiologically illiterate. 4. Thanators are pretty intelligent, don't have those frills on their head, are significantly more armored, and can come in different colors and patterns (think like the banshees and Leonopteryx). 5. I plan on culturally blending the tribes a bit more, they all speak the same language, and they trade products anyway. Like the Tipani is basically the only tribe to wear armor, I'm changing that so other tribes wear armor too.

 **The APEX Program**

The "Avatar" program was was mostly developed for diplomatic purposes as a way to interact with the native peoples of Pandora, the Na'vi. The Avatar program wasn't the only one of it's kind, though it did receive the bulk of the funding. The other program, known as project APEX was a more direct approach to survival on Pandora. The Mechs weren't cutting it when it came to defense, RDA needed another way to protect its operations in the alien jungle.

After studying the Avatar program, SecOps (security operationsi) sat down with R&D and devised an approach to eliminate the Achilles heel of the program, the psionic link, and the costly nature of growing an avatar. The result was Project APEX, instead of growing an Avatar that needed to look like a Na'vi, they could just genetically modify a soldier to be adapted to Pandora's flora, fauna, and atmosphere.

The APEX soldier drew heavy inspiration from pandoran biology. Instead of sticking with the rigid humanoid body plan of two arms and two legs, they implemented the standard Pandoran body plan of six limbs into their design. They were constantly reminded that they were not designing a soldier, they were building a predator. They incorporated many animalistic aspects of Pandoran biology like Operculi (the breathing slits) and armor plating. The Operculi were added because the APEX were given markedly increased muscle mass and their oxygen requirements increased proportionally. The facial features experienced small changes as a result of using Na'vi and Thanator DNA as the framework, like new possible eye colors like yellow and red, even sharper teeth, and pointed (elfin not Na'vi) ears.

(I'm going to skip over trying to explain the changes to external organs, partly because I can't find any resources explaining Na'vi biology but mostly because I'm lazy. Just know that being taller also makes more room for more organs, like another heart, lungs, ect.)

Since the APEX process was less expensive the tolerances were relaxed accordingly and that meant that certain soldiers that underwent the process experienced unexpected side effects/ mutations. The mutations were almost always minor things like nonstandard skin colors and patterns like purple, green, blue, and rarely red. -(The typical skin tone after the process was solid black)- But some mutations were larger, like only having four digits on the second set of arms, or two Queues.

The process was dealt with by having the soldier go through the changes while in cryo sleep on the trip to Pandora, that way they could be monitored. The process takes the entire duration of the trip, growing to be 9-11 feet tall and growing extra limbs isn't an easy thing.

Pyrrha comes from a long line of career soldiers, you could say she was bred for war. She was even named after Pyrrhus of Epirus, one of Greece's greatest generals. Pyrrha is also a name given to girls with red hair, so her name is doubly appropriate. At 6'10" she was a giantess, and at a young age Pyrrha decided to harness her potential and applied herself to weightlifting and powerlifting. At the age of 24 she held 3 world records as the strongest woman. At 415 lbs [1] Pyrrha weighed as much as an adult female Na'vi, she was probably as strong as one too. Since she was that strong as a 100% natural human, she was the perfect candidate for the APEX program.

When some representatives from RDA offered her a place in the project, Pyrrha didn't hesitate in accepting. She was seeking new challenges, maintaining the #1 position wasn't enough anymore, and she didn't really have any close ties with friends and family. She was on the ship to Pandora within the month.

Pyrrha woke up on a gurney, completely disoriented, with bright lights, loud sounds, and the sharp smell of medical disinfectant. It was sensory overload. She slowly became aware of a small woman leaning over her, calling her name. At the moment she could only speak in one word sentences. "Where?"

"You are in the Ambient room of the Hell's Gate facility on Pandora. Your vitals are great and you are healthy, we just need to test some motor functions and then Dr. Augustine will take you and norm through the facility. Alright, now sit up."

Pyrrha sat up in one fluid, unconscious movement. It wasn't until about a minute later that her situation fully sunk in. She looked down and at first, all she saw was **RED** , "Red! I'm red!"

"Yes, there was a chance something like that would happen. Usually they're a black, gray, or tan color but sometimes other colors come through, I should let you know that your hair stayed red and your eyes are now red too. Take a few deep breaths and take inventory of yourself."

Doing as she was told, Pyrrha was reminded again of how she'd been changed when she felt her operculi open as she breathed. It was an interesting feeling, she could control whether they were open or not, but if she wasn't consciously closing them they naturally opened and shut as she breathed. She had a single set and they were located in what can only be described as the Supraclavicular fossa, the "hollow" or indentation between the clavicle and trapezius muscle. [2]

Agreeing to the procedure seemed simple when she signed up. She wasn't truly having regrets, but the gravity of her situation just hit her over the head, there was no going back. She hadn't taken her time thinking it over, she just dove in. Hell most people take more consideration over whether or not to get a tattoo. "Well, I used to be fleshy and pink, now I'm red. I signed up for this, now I've got to deal."

After a few more deep breaths Pyrrha set about performing the tasks the nurse requested of her. She made a fist and touched fingers to the opposing thumb. Oddly, the extra set of arms didn't throw her off at all, she immediately showed competent levels of dexterity. It was like a duck to water. The only thing different in her extra set of hands were that the fingers were slightly shorter and thicker and her thumb was longer and shifted a little more towards the bottom of her palm. It advantageous as it would aid her in staying grasped to surfaces like tree trunks.

After all of the wire leads and IVs were removed the nurse led Pyrrha to an adjoining room and left her to dress herself. She settled on a simple white tank top because it didn't interfere with her extra set of arms, as a side effect of her all her muscle the top clung tightly to her and her new set of armor plating was readily apparent.

Given that her skin was a deep orange-red you would think the plating would be too, but no, it was a solid black. She had banded plates from the base of her skull down her back, on her forearms and backs of her fists, on the sides and front of her ribs, and down the front and sides of her legs. All in all she looked as though the was wearing leather armor or really thin sparring pads, but the plating was more like cartilage or keratin than leather. The only areas left unarmored were areas of chafing, like the inner thighs and underarms and her upper chest and breasts.

When Pyrrha opened the door to leave she was greeted by two Avatar, a woman and what seemed to be her gangly assistant. It was the woman that spoke. "I'm Dr. Augustine and going to take you and Norm over here, on the tour and as of tomorrow you are going to be joining us on our excursions into the field. Come."

They spent the remainder of the day on the tour with an hour for dinner and another of free time before lights out. There were only a few others from the APEX project in the cabin, it seemed that most people weren't willing to go through the irreversible process and she couldn't blame them. For all of here bluntness Dr. Augustine wasn't really rude, she just had little patience for incompetence. In that way she seemed a lot more like this Col. Quartich she had such contempt for. Pyrrha wondered if the doctor had military experience.

Pyrrha had trouble getting to sleep because she was so excited by the prospect of being on an excursion into the beautiful wilds. In an effort to calm her nerves she set about getting her mane under control. Her hair used to be a deep red and after the procedure her hair became more varied, with highlights of almost flaming orange and all shades in between. She put her hair into tight cornrow like braids on the side of her scalp near her ears and put the rest into smaller and looser braids, and put the hair on the top into a thick french braid. [3]

In the morning she set out to find the base Ordnance Officer and get supplied for the excursion. He flat out told her that the firearms were little more than jokes when it came to dealing with half of the wildlife and she'd be better off with melee weapons. She took what he said to heart and requested a set of machetes and a javelin. She was experienced in throwing weapons, growing up she was the master of the "field" portion of "track and field" especially javelin throwing. She had one machete in a sheath horizontally across her lower back and the across her chest and carried the javelin in her hand.

On the flight out the Norm commented on Pyrrha's appearance saying,"Won't you stick out like a sore thumb out there? You are bright red."

Pyrrha had thought a lot about that and after thinking about what she knew of Terran and Pandoran ecology she came to the conclusion that her skin tone wasn't a negative, just beneficial in another way. "I think it isn't as bad as you might think. The Great Leonopteryx, the Slinger, and Thanator can all be bright red and all three are apex predators. If anything, the fauna is going to steer clear of me."

Dr. Augustine looked impressed at her analysis, and at her look, Pyrrha said to her,"Zoology was a big course of study for me when I went through college, but I didn't get a degree and never progressed enough to study Xenobiology." Conversation lulled and the doctor seemed to lose some of her reservations about Pyrrha's involvement in her research team.

Once they touched down in the forest Pyrrha felt relieved to be on solid ground and in awe of the flora. There was a palpable pulse of life that rippled up through her from her feet. She walked about 15 steps behind Dr. Augustine and Mr. Spellman. She wasn't exactly listening to their conversation instead she was absorbing her surroundings. She perked up when she heard the doctor tell Norm that all of the trees were interconnected. It just confirmed what she already knew with every fibre of her being, the forest was intelligent. Pyrrha definitely understood what the Na'vi meant when they referred to Eywa, whether the entity was real was irrelevant.

When they moved on to another subject Pyrrha walked off to explore more of the area. There was a large patch of Helicoradium spirale, one of the most notable species of plant life on Pandora, being a carnivorous/insectivorous plant. They respond to pressure like the Venus Flytrap of earth, taking a more active approach to obtaining nutrition. In this way they fall into the category of "zooplantae" a classification mostly reserved for the unique flora of Pandora where the lines between plant and animal are blurred.

Suddenly a the Helicoradian grove upheaved in a wave from the other side of the clearing. As the spiraled leaves retracted into the ground, a large creature was revealed. It was a Hammerhead Titanothere, Pyrrha thought might be a female or a juvenile male. It took one look at Pyrrha and took off running towards the herd, trumpeting a warning call along the way.

As the Hammerhead was fleeing, Pyrrha began to feel a sense of triumph, it was quickly crushed when a shadow passed over her head as a god damn Thanator attempted to give chase. It became readily apparent that she had interrupted the predator's hunt of the juvenile straggler. At this point the young Hammerhead had made it back to the herd and the Thanator turned its sights to the research team. Thinking fast, Pyrrha didn't what she could to do her job as security escort and yelled a warning to Dr. Augustine and Norm. "Thanator! Make a run for it, I'll do what I can to buy y'all time!"

At no point did Pyrrha take her eyes off of the Thanator, as an ambush predator it would take any opportunity to attack. She had the big cat's absolute attention, it was circling at a distance waiting for her to make the first move. After counting to 10 Pyrrha made a break for the tree line in the hopes of making it up a tree to keep it distracted until she could get an opening or it gave up.

Halfway to the nearest tree, she threw her javelin at the trunk to create a quick hand hold. As she closed the distance and leapt up the trunk, she could feel the tree quake from impact of the Thanator colliding with the trunk. Pyrrha was really starting to appreciate her second set of arms as they helped her cling to the trunk.

As the Thanator circled below her she started to take inventory and plan. Unsurprisingly her machetes would be nearly useless against the Thanator's armor and her javelin has solidly imbedded in the bark below her. With the number of tools at her disposal rapidly diminishing, she would need to dig deep and improvise. There weren't any trees close enough to jump to and running and climbing wasn't a sustainable strategy.

Pyrrha tried thinking of what a Na'vi would do in her situation because maybe her mindset was still too human and there was a clear solution staring her in the face. Bonding with a Mountain Banshee and Direhorse are both common rites of passage in many Na'vi clans but bonding with other, larger predators like Thanators and the Great Leonopteryx has been reported. Pyrrha only had a basic understanding of the bonding process, you connect your Queue with that of whatever creature it is (which forms the "Tsaheylu") and usually the creature accepts you and a lifelong bond is formed.

Pyrrha was just desperate enough to attempt to bond with Thanator that was circling below, it was that or try and wait for a rescue party which may or may not be coming. Not to mention that she didn't want the Thanator to die, yes it wanted to eat her but it was a majestic creature deserving her respect.

With her mind made up, Pyrrha waited for the Thanator to stalk below her and dropped down onto it's neck, needing to act fast she dug her heels into the gap between the first two legs and grabs ahold of both antennae with her ancillary arms and used her primary arms to grab her Queue and connect it to the Queue of the left antenna.

Once the Tsaheylu was formed it felt like her eyes were opened for the first time, she could see through its eyes, the sensation was similar to the feeling of the pulse of the forest except the bond was 1000x stronger and the Thanator was decidedly intelligent with potential for sentience. She could feel a corresponding awakening taking place within the Thanator. The big cat was calming down and sending the feeling of submission and respect through the bond, it was also sending the sensation of hunger.

"Alright Tiger, let me get my javelin and we can go hunting." She disconnected from the bond and was somewhat surprised to find she could still read it's emotional state and stress levels, she just couldn't see or hear what it heard. She clambered back up the tree and pried her javelin from the barks grasp. As soon as she reestablished the bond, the Thanator went on the prowl, it was awe inspiring to experience how it analyzed the surroundings. It was a crash course in tracking. When it came across different scents, she would get sent memories of previous encounters with that particular creature. All of its knowledge of its territory, roughly 155 square miles, was directly uploaded to her brain. She can only assume the inverse was true for it, that it absorbed her catalog of flora, fauna, layout of the Hell's Gate facility, and images/impressions of everyone she'd met thus far. Being inundated with so much information was giving her a bit of a headache.

Suddenly her companion stopped and raised its front-most legs and head into the air, Pyrrha's senses were suddenly filled with the scent of blood and both her and the Thanator became one animal in pursuit of flesh. All pretenses of stealth were dropped as they alit towards the source of the blood. Overcome with physical bloodlust they burst through the dense underbrush and suddenly Pyrrha has flying through the air as she was thrown from her mount.

She was disoriented from the sudden withdrawal of the bond and the feeling of intense anxiety from her companion. It took her a second to figure out what had happened. Looking around, the first thing she saw was rope wrapped around the legs of her Thanator, the second was the huntress with a drawn bow aimed right at her.

"Speak! Why are you here?!"

"We smelled blood and instinct took over, we assumed a hexapede had hurt itself, I never considered it could have been a hunter. If I had known we wouldn't have charged in like that. I truly apologize, we are newly bonded and lost control."

"How does a Sky Person have Tsaheylu with that!? Your kind hasn't even bonded with a pa'li." The huntress lowered her bow but stayed at the ready. It was obvious that their sudden appearance didn't leave a good first impression.

"I was assigned to escort the research team, do you know Dr. Augustine? Anyway, I stupidly stumbled inbetween this Thanator and its prey and scared it off, I was the next best thing. I jumped up a tree to keep it distracted and quickly realized I had only one chance of survival and I took it. As you pointed out, I'm inexperienced with a bond and we both became quickly overwhelmed by the scent of blood. The Thanator is in distress, will you please allow me to untie it?"

At the huntresses nod, Pyrrha went to her companion, reestablished Tsaheylu, and sent soothing emotions through the bond as she unraveled the bolo from around its legs. "Do you wish to join us on a hunt? It seems only fair, we are in your lands after all."

"Have her eat this kill and then we go. Eywa brought the two of you together, this is a sign."

On its way to eat the hexapede the big cat stopped before the huntress and bumped its head against her. The woman seemed to appreciate the gesture.

(I apologize if this chapter ends weird, I had to get it out, my mother has been in the hospital and I have college starting on the 21st. Oddly 1 of my classes doesn't start until October it seems.)

-(#1 height and weight numbers for Pyrrha are based off of Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson an icelandic weightlifter/powerlifter/strongman, not to be confused with bodybuilding.)-

-(#2 you have no idea how long I spent looking up "What's the space between the clavicle and trapezius called, for a while I was stuck on the subclavian triangle but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.)

-(#3 like Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn but with Lagertha's side braids from Vikings. So kinda like a lot of hair on top and a lot of little braids and cornrows on the sides.)


End file.
